| Summary: | This chapter argues that the enablement of teachers is probably one of the most important priorities for governments in the developing world. Teachers matter, because as much of the research shows, they have a significant impact on student learning. Thus, while there is little doubt that the development of teachers is perhaps the policy imperative most likely to raise the quality of education (Verspoor, 2008; UNESCO, 2005) and lead to substantial gains in school performance, achieving this has not at all been straightforward. There is a severe shortage of teachers in developing countries and many of those in school are under-qualified. Recent research suggests that a significant number of teachers are unmotivated (Bennell, 2007), in part because of the difficult environments in which they work, the fact that they are poorly compensated, and that incentives are few and far between. This chapter provides an overview of the context of teaching and the status of the profession in developing countries. Then, through comparative analysis, it considers a number of policy options for the enablement of teachers. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
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